Mass Triffect
by Lt Gravemind
Summary: Take Mass Effect and add a cooperative mode with AI that actually think. Then throw in three friends into the game who just like to blow stuff up and look at the pure stupidity of some things. At this point the fate of the galaxy could go either way.


ACCESSING ALLIANCE DATABASE…

"Wow, even a super advanced military computer of the future has load times."

"Relax, just give it a moment."

ERROR. DATA CORRUPTION DETECTED…

"Oh, that figures. Microsoft still makes all this crap."

"It's just part of the game."

COMMENCING DATA RECONSTRUCTION. RECONSTRUCT SHEPARDS' PROFILE…

"And this is where we make our characters."

"Wait, why can't I change my guy's last name?"

"It's part of the original game. Bioware made Kotor, but I guess a lot of people found it annoying that their character was never actually referred to like 'Hey Mike.' So they fixed that by making everyone call your character by his last name."

"Okay, but how the hell are they going to tell us apart if everyone calls us gay-ass Shepard?"

IMPUT FIRST NAMES…

"Well, this is an improved version of Mass Effect with real AI. I'm sure they can call us by what first name we choose."

"Dammit! I already put in my first name! I would have gone with something like Deathblade or something."

"Yeah, I'm not feeling too creative at the moment. I'll just go with my name."

"Same."

RECONSTRUCTING FACIAL APPEARANCES…

"Wait, why does my character look like an older me?"

"I figured our characters would be better if they looked like older versions of ourselves, so I added an aging app to the game for our appearances. Besides, Shepard wasn't exactly that young in this game."

"Fair enough."

FACIAL RECONSTRUCTIONS COMPLETE…

CHOOSE CLASSES…

"Oh sweet! Infiltrator here I come!"

INFILTRATOR COMFIRMED…

"Um, yeah, Kevin-"

"Yeah?"

"That class sucks. It's only a guy who hacks computers and uses a sniper."

"No ninja?"

"No ninja."

"Dammit!"

"I'm just going to go with the Soldier."

SOLDIER CONFIRMED…

"And I'll go with the Vanguard."

VANGUARD CONFIRMED…

"Alright we've got a tech sniper, a soldier, and a biotic soldier basically."

"Biotic?"

"They move things with their mind basically."

CHOOSE BACKGROUNDS…

"Alright, give me my options here Paul. I don't want something lame like earlier."

"Okay, we've got three options here: a military brat who moved a lot and joined the military as soon as he was able, a guy who survived his colony being butchered at 16 and was saved by the human military, and a former gangster who joined the military at 18 to get away from that life."

"You and me Mike, former gangsta's because you're my BWEEB!"

EARTH-BORN BACKGROUND CONFIMED…

"Alright, fine. What're you going for Paul?"

EARTH-BORN BACKGROUND CONFIMED…

"I'll stick with survivor. We'll tell the AI in-game we're just relatives or something."

COLONIST BACKGROUNDS CONFIRMED…

CHOOSE PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILES…

"Okay, here is where we choose our characters' military background from three choices. The first is the Warhero, who basically helped repel a pirate/slaver invasion on a colony called Elysium by rallying the civilians to its defense and keeping up the defenses long enough for a military ship to come and kick the pirates out. The second is the Sole Survivor, who volunteered for a mission to investigate why a colony called Akuze had dropped out of contact. It turns out that Tremor-worm rip-offs were the problem and virtually everyone in his unit except him was killed as they retreated to their ship. The final is the Ruthless, who throughout his career has done his job without second thought and with whatever it took. When the Alliance military attacked a slaver planet called Torfan his elite unit was sent into the heart of the pirate base. He got 3/4ths of them killed in the process and executed some prisoners who were already unarmed and had surrendered, but he had completed his mission."

"Dibs on the Warhero."

WARHERO CONFIRMED…

"I've got the badass Ruthless guy."

RUTHLESS CONFRIMED…

"I'll go with the Sole Survivor then, making my character more or less of a psychological basket case or a badass depending on how I play him."

SOLE SURVIVOR….

PROFILE RECONSTRUCTIONS COMPLETE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHANGE ANYTHING?

"Wait, let me change from this Infiltrator to-"

PROFILES ACCEPTED. GENERATING NEW GAME…

"Dammit!"

NEW GAME GENERATED. LOADING THE SSV NORMANDY. STANDBY…

The command deck of the SSV Normandy bristled with activity as the crew maintained the status of the prototype Alliance stealth ship. They were at all stations, all systems ready and at standby for the eventual shakedown run that was the pretense of the mission.

They were on a course to a Mass Relay when the suddenly they suddenly heard a thud and someone swear "Son of a b*tch!"

Some of the crew ignored this, too busy to take notice of anything else, but those who did look out of curiosity saw Kevin and Mike face-first on the floor while Paul stood above them trying not to laugh.

"What the hell?!" Kevin groaned as he and Mike stood up, a clear red mark left on his face and Paul finally breaking into laughter.

Noticing that people were giving them puzzled stares, Paul quelled his laughter and whispered to them "Okay, we're in their world now. Try and act normal."

"Normal?! I just-" Kevin began but then noticed everyone was staring at them now. He straightened up, smiled, and asked the crew "Don't you guys have anything better to do?"

The crew looked at one another confused before returning back to their assignments, much to Paul's relief. He turned to Kevin and Mike saying "Okay, here's the deal: we're all commanders, N7's to be more exact, of the special forces of the Alliance Military. You can read up on all that stuff later, but right now we've got to go to the front of the ship. We're about to go through a Mass Relay."

And with that Paul left towards the helm of the ship, giving Kevin and Mike no choice but to follow. They had just arrived at the helm when the Relay launched their ship half-way across the galaxy in an instant, catching the newly arrived Shepards by surprise. It was simply a flash of light as they flew up alongside the massive installation and were suddenly in another part of the galaxy.

"Thrusters check. Navigations check. Internal emissions sync engaged, all systems online. Drift, just under 1500k." Joker said reclining in his pilot's chair, a smooth satisfaction in his voice.

The turian standing behind him with the Shepards stated "1500 is good. Your captain will be pleased" before promptly walking away.

"I hate that guy." Joker muttered once the turian was out of hearing range.

"Nihlus gave you a compliment… so you hate him?" the man sitting next to him, Kaiden, asked quizzically.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom, that's good! I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead, that's incredible!" Joker nearly shouted. "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having them onboard. Call me paranoid."

"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project; they have a right to keep an eye on their investment." Kaiden defended.

"Yeah, that is the official story, but only an idiot believes the official story." Joker stated ominously, tending to the calculations of the ship's flight.

It was at this point that Paul intervened, adding "You don't send a Spectre to see if a ship works."

"Which means that there's more going on here than the captain's-" Joker started to say before he was cut off by the com.

"Joker, status report!" came the voice of Captain Anderson.

"Just cleared the Mass Relay captain! Stealth systems engaged, everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a com buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime."

"Aye, aye captain. Better brace yourself, sir, I think Nihlus is headed your way." Joker warned.

"He's already here lieutenant," Anderson responded in a somewhat angry tone, causing Kaiden and Joker both to shake their heads. "Tell the Commander Shepards to meet me in the com room for a debriefing."

"Nice Joker. Now we have a pissed off captain to deal with." Kevin said incredulously.

"Hey, he always sounds angry around me."

"Can't imagine why." Kaiden muttered sardonically.

"Wait, are you all for real?" Joker asked before Paul, Mike, and Kevin could leave.

Paul looked at him strangely. "What?"

"Are you all really related, have the same last name and the same rank for the same mission? A mission that's only supposed to be a shakedown run?" Joker asked.

"…Maybe. Is anything wrong with that?"

"No, I'd just think that one of you would've gone with a little originality or something. Commander Shepards."

"Oh, you want some of this b*t-" Kevin began before Paul cut him off.

"Let's go, the captain's waiting for us."

Kevin threw a murderous look towards Joker before following Paul and Mike to the com room. They paused to talk to navigator Pressley, who told them about the Normandy and her stealth systems. They also stopped along the way to have a little chat with a Pvt. Jenkins and Dr. Chakwas who informed them of what Eden Prime was like, who the Spectres were and what they did. By the end of the conversation Jenkin's had managed to bring up Kevin's feats on Torfan, Paul's survival of Akuze, and Mike's actions on Elysium, and Mike had made a friend in Jenkins.

As they continued to the com room, Kevin said "I bet 20 credits Jenkins dies five minutes after we land."

"20 credits say ten minutes." Paul responded to the bet.

"Come on guys, he might actually make it." Mike suggested, only receiving laughter in return. This continued until they actually entered the com room, at which point they noticed that Nihlus was the only one waiting for them.

"Hey Zebra-face, where's the captain?" Kevin asked.

"My name is Nihlus, Shepards, and I would like to be referred as such by humans with your reputations."

"Yeah, and I'd like to be called Kevin or commander or something besides freakin' Shepards. We have names you know." Kevin retorted.

Before Nihlus could respond, Mike cut in and said "Relax Kevin, from what I've heard you don't want to piss these guys off."

"Moving on," Nihlus stated annoyed, "I wanted to talk with all of you. I'm interested in this world we're going to, Eden Prime. I've heard it's quite beautiful."

"Yes, it's beyond beautiful." Paul lied. He didn't know the first thing about the planet, but he had to advance the conversation along in a way that didn't allow Kevin to butt in and try to get them killed.

Unfortunately that didn't work as Kevin butted in anyway and said "Don't know, don't care, when do I get to shoot something?"

Luckily, it seemed as if Nihlus had already learned to ignore Kevin. He stated "Yes, calm. Peaceful. Serene. Eden Prime has become something of a symbol for your people; proof that humanity can establish colonies and keep them protected. But how safe is it really?"

"Is something up?" Mike asked, as the question definitely drew attention to itself.

"Your people are still newcomers, Shepards. The galaxy is a dangerous place. Is the Alliance truly for this?" Nihlus asked, just before Captain Anderson walked in.

Anderson positioned himself in front of them and said "I think it's about time to tell the commanders what's really going on."

"This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run." Nihlus revealed, not much to the surprise of anyone really.

"Yeah, that's really not hard to figure out. Definitely something you need to work on." Paul remarked, but before he could say anything else the captain cut in.

"We're making a covert pickup on Eden Prime. That's why we needed the stealth systems operational."

"A covert pickup? You're sending a military ship _and_ a Spectre to pick it up. Stealth system or not, people aren't _blind_. Why didn't you even both to tell us until now?" Mike incredulously asked crossing his arms.

"This comes down from the top. Information strictly on a need-to-know basis." Anderson responded. "A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation. It was Prothean."

"Okay, you dug up a fossil and you're sending the military to pick it up. Do we seriously have nothing else better to do or do you just like giving people crap assignments?" Kevin asked.

"This 'crap' assignment deals with the legacy of the Protheans, who were here fifty-thousand years before us and we wouldn't even be here if it weren't for them. The Mass Relays, the Citadel, all made by the Protheans. All our technology is based off of theirs, even yours." Nihlus replied angrily.

"This is big Shepards. The last time humanity made a discovery like this it jumped our technology forward by two-hundred years. But Eden Prime doesn't have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for study." Captain Anderson input.

Nihlus added "Obviously this goes beyond mere human interest, commanders. This discovery could affect every species in Citadel space."

"Okay, so let me just recap here for a moment. We're on a mission to pickup an old relic that might contain a lot of valuable info. The brass doesn't want to make too much of a fuss yet because this is big and someone else might sack the colony before we get there to take it. So my question is this: why us?" Paul asked.

Anderson replied "Nihlus isn't just here for the beacon, commanders, he's also here to evaluate you."

"_Evaluate_ us? Whatever/whoever it was I didn't do it/her." Kevin suddenly declared before Anderson could say anything else, causing an awkward silence to fall on the meeting.

Mike broke the silence by telling him "Um, Kevin I think he meant see if we're ready for something."

"Yeah, I doubt he would get into all this detail about an important artifact just to switch to your non-existent love life." Paul added.

"Bastard."

"Again moving on," the Captain said just barely maintaining his composure, "The Alliance has been pushing for this for a long time. Humanity wants a larger role in shaping interstellar policy. We want more say with the Citadel Council. The Spectres represent the Council's power and authority. If they accept humans into their ranks it shows how far the Alliance has come."

"Not many could have survived what you went through on Akuze, Paul, gotten the job done on Torfan, Kevin, or rallied the people of Elysium to repel an overwhelming invading force, Michael. You all have demonstrated traits that would be useful in the defense of peace in the galaxy, which is why I put your names forward as candidates for the Spectres." Nihlus affirmed, his earlier anger replaced by respect.

"Sounds good to me."

"Yeah, that sounds pretty cool."

"That's badass."

"Good. I need to see your skills for myself. Eden Prime will be the first of several missions together." Nihlus replied sounding satisfied.

Pleased that they were fine with concept, Anderson continued. "Paul, you'll be in-charge of the ground team. Secure the beacon and get it onto the ship ASAP. Nihlus will accompany you to observe the mission."

"We're ready captain." Paul said, just wanting to start the mission already.

"We should be getting close to Eden-" Anderson began, but was cut off by the agitated voice of Joker

"Captain, we've got a problem."

"What's wrong Joker?"

"Transmission from Eden Prime sir! You've got to see this."

Anderson walked up the com room's view screen, follow by everyone else. "Bring it up on screen."

The view screen lit up to reveal a warzone. It was in first-person vision, the recorder firing his rifle at an unseen enemy while projectiles flew by him and explosions wracked his unit. The recorder was pushed down out of the way a woman who yelled "Get down!" and returned fire.

Another soldier ran up to the camera and shouted "We're under attack! Taking heavy casualties! I repeat! Heavy casualties! We can't- evac- They came out of nowhere! We need-" before being shot dead. There were another couple minutes of combat as the soldiers attempted to hold their position. There was a slight pause in the shooting on the part of the soldiers, the reason why revealed when the camera looked turned toward source. It was an enormous dreadnought mainly obscured by the darkness and grit that blocked the camera, but from what was seen looked like the hand of death coming out of the darkness. After that was seen, there was some more shooting and explosions before the transmission died.

"Everything cuts out after that. No traffic at all. Just goes dead. There's nothing."

"Reverse and hold at 38.5." Anderson ordered, and everyone just stood a there in a pause for a few moments at the sight of the dreadnought. Then it was Kevin who broke the silence.

"Aw sh*t."

Anderson continued upon this. "Take us in Joker. Fast and quiet. This mission just got a lot more complicated."

"A small strike team can move quickly without drawing attention. It's our best chance to secure the beacon." Nihlus suggested.

"Grab your gear and meet us in the cargo hold." Anderson said and Nihlus left. Then he turned to Paul. "Tell Alenko and Jenkins to suit up. You're going in."

* * *

"Engaging stealth systems. Somebody was doing some serious digging here captain." Joker commented as he flew the Normandy over the excavation sites of Eden Prime. Meanwhile Kaiden, Jenkins, Anderson, and the commanders were assembled in the cargo bay of the Normandy, suited up and ready to roll.

"Your team's the muscle in this operation commander. Go in heavy and head straight to the dig site." Anderson shouted over the sound of the wind rushing outside, since Joker had opened the hatch early for some god-forsaken reason.

"What about survivors, captain?" Kaiden asked.

"Helping survivors is a secondary objective. The beacon's your top priority." Anderson shouted in reply, seriously considering breaking Joker's fragile legs the next time he saw him.

"Approaching drop point one." Joker reported over the com.

It was at that point Nihlus entered the cargo bay, readying his shotgun.

"Nihlus, are you coming with us?" Jenkins asked eagerly as they landed at the first drop point.

Nihlus didn't bother to look at them as he replied "I move faster on my own" before running out onto the first drop point.

"Yes, because splitting up and going alone against an unknown hostile force is such a good idea." Paul input sardonically as they took off again and headed for the second drop point.

"Nihlus will scout out ahead. He'll feed you status reports throughout the mission. Otherwise I want radio silence."

"That kind of defeats the point Sir." Mike stated.

"Let's kick some ass." Kevin said not caring.

Anderson gave them a salute as they touched down at the second drop point. "The mission's yours now Shepards. Good Luck!"

The Shepards, Kaiden, and Jenkins rushed out into the small clearing that was the drop point with weapons drawn and ready to experience hard combat. What they got instead was a peaceful meadow that sloped down into a trickling river and a few freaky gasbag things floating about harmlessly. The only things that were out of place were a few bodies charred beyond recognition, the sounds of weapons fire out in the distance, and a few chucks of rock sticking out of the ground that could serve as cover.

Convinced that there were no enemies in the current vicinity, Paul began giving out orders. "Alright Jenkins, take point. Mike and Kevin, you take the left and right flanks, and Kaiden you bring up our rear. Set the mission timer for JK (Jenkins Killed) at five minutes."

"I thought you were betting ten minutes." Kevin asked, much to Kaiden and Jenkins' confusion.

"What are you talking-"

Sadly, Jenkins would never finish that sentence as his head suddenly exploded into a red cloud from a sniper round. Another round barely missed Kevin's head right after, leading to a "HOLY SHIT" moment before everybody dove for cover.

"Suppressing fire!"

It didn't matter who shouted it, everybody listened and proceeded to lay down fire on the spot where the sniper was hiding. This created the window of opportunity that Kevin exploited with a full-on sprint towards the sniper's cover. With his blood pumping he leaped over cover and tackled the Geth sniper, managing to knock away its weapon in the process. Standing over it, he aimed the butt of his weapon at the synthetic's head and tried to smash it in. It caught the weapon though, to his surprise, and forced it back into his visor with a solid _crack!_ Kevin dropped his weapon and fell backwards, slightly dazed, as the Geth rolled back onto its feet. The Geth's dove for his rifle but Kevin snapped out of his daze and whipped out his pistol, drilling the synthetic's flashlight head with five rounds at point-blank range. White synthetic fluid spewed out and it dropped dead on the spot. Breathing heavily, Kevin stood up and fired another round into the Geth's head just to be sure. Then he put away his pistol and picked up his rifle, before noticing that everyone else was standing there staring at him.

"You owe me ten credits Mike." Paul said to Mike, who just rolled his eyes as Kevin walked up to them. "Oh yes, Kevin, the earlier bet is off. Jenkins died less than five seconds after we landed, so none of us won that."

"He was a good soldier." Mike added needlessly.

"He sucked. What were you betting on?" Kevin nonchalantly asked.

"On whether or not you'd actually be good at hand to hand combat. You didn't exactly beat whatever that thing was to death, so I won." Paul answered happily.

Kaiden looked horrified. "What is wrong with you people?!"

"What do you mean?"

"You bet on the amount of time it would take for Jenkins to die. You didn't even help out your own brother when he was fighting that _thing_! You've been treating this like its just some kind of game!" Kaiden angrily detailed. "Sir."

"Kaiden, there's one thing you have to understand if you're going to work with us: we have a bit of a morbid sense of humor. I mean, I've seen my entire family slaughtered with the exception of Kevin and Mike here, who were on Earth at the time and got attached to gangs. I didn't even see them again until after I entered the N7 program, when they had already made names for themselves on Torfan and Elysium. What do I end up with to make my name? The surviving Akuze when my entire unit was dying all around me as Thresher Maws pulled them down under. You match a story like that, and I'll gladly stop with the morbid stuff." Paul explained coldly, though in truth he really had no idea how he just managed to make all those connections on the spot. Just luck, most likely, but it was certainly enough to shut Kaiden up right there.

Satisfied that that was dealt with, Paul smiled at Kevin and Mike. "So, who bets that Kaiden dies by the end of this mission?"

"Not funny commander."

"Alright, alright, let's get down to business. Mike, take point. Kaiden you move along the left flank and Kevin you move along the right. Keep an eye out for snipers; I don't want a repeat of Jenkins." Paul ordered and they all quickly fell into formation.

They moved down the hill towards the river, noting that bodies burnt to a crisp had been laid out on the various rocks. A path along the river lead them to an uphill stretch that had a decent amount of rocky cover, which they started to traverse. They had gone halfway up the stretch when three assault drones flew into view. The drones opened fire immediately and the squad was forced to take cover, though not before a few magnetically-accelerated rounds caught and took a good chunk out of their shields. The first among the squad to recover their shields, Kevin, peeked out of his cover with an extended sniper rifle and fired a shot that hit the "eye" of one of the drones and ripped straight through it. The fire redirected towards him and he hid again, this time allowing Mike to pop out and let loose a barrage of assault rifle rounds that quickly shredded the second drone to pieces before taking cover again. Kaiden fired his pistol at the third drone, drawing enough of its fire so that Paul could leap over his cover and sprint towards it. By the time the drone refocused on him it was already in the deadly range of his shotgun. The first blast knocked out its barriers and caused it to spin back from brunt force. The second blast finished it off in a signature mini-explosion that had engulfed all the drones upon destruction. Paul panted for a moment and let the shotgun fall to his side, his blood pumping, and let out an excited laugh. Now THAT was fun.

He readied his shotgun again as the rest of the squad ran up to him. "Alright, form up again, same as before."

A moment later they received a message from Nihlus.

"I've come across a building here Paul. There are a lot of bodies, but I'm going to check it out. I'll try to catch up with you at the dig site."

"Yes, because an alien beacon and invasion isn't as important as a building full of bodies." Mike added sarcastically.

Paul shrugged. "He's the super elite operative."

"100 creds says that zebra-face is dead by the end of the mission." Kevin bet.

"You're on."

After the conversation they fell into formation once more as they headed up the hill again. The path turned right into a short, rock-walled corridor that was mostly empty save for a plant-growth along the left side that could offer some cover. This is exactly was it did just a few moments into the corridor as two more drones turned up ahead, opening fire immediately and forcing them into cover yet again. This time the battle went much quicker though as a combined retaliatory fire knocked both drones out of air, allowing the squad to resume their progress. They turned the end of the corridor and met up with another drone waiting to ambush them. This backfired however as it didn't take into account that four highly trained soldiers might be a bit too much for it, and it was quickly shot down as well. After pressing forward a bit down the path is when they saw her.

She, the woman seen in the transmission earlier, was full clad in armor and running toward them for her life while being chased by two drones. The drones fired at her with extremely poor aim yet one round managed to catch her in the left calf. Though her kinetic barriers stopped the round it was still enough to send her tumbling off balance and straight into the ground. She reacted quickly to this though by reversing her tumble so she could fall on her back all while pulling out her pistol. In desperation she fired off three rounds at her pursuers. One of them missed them completely, though amazingly the other two not only struck spot on but also hit with enough force to destroy the drones and see them explode in their signature way. That should have been a moment of peace for her, where she could let her heart rate slow for a few moments. Instead not thirty feet away two Geth were placing a struggling man on some weird machine. The next minute a giant spike erupted from the machine and impaled the guy into the air, sending the woman running away again to take cover. The Geth noticed this and didn't fire. Well at least didn't fire until they noticed the squad staring at the whole scene like a bunch of idiots. Then the Geth opened fire with their assault rifles, forcing them to take cover with the woman as well, who had switched her pistol for an assault rifle.

The battle was over quickly: the Geth had no form of cover near them and certainly couldn't hover out of the way of bullets, so the combined fire of assault rifles and a sniper neatly dispatched the two synthetics. With the area secure for the moment, the squad gathered before the woman with Paul at the front, who she promptly saluted to. "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams of the 212! Are you in charge here Sir?"

Paul was slightly puzzled as to how she knew he was a superior when he realized that her helmet, like all of the helmets they were wearing right now, basically told them that about their fellow soldiers. The fact that there was a big N7 painted on his armor, the rank signifier for special operations commanders, might have tipped her off as well. This would also explain her confusion when she noticed that all of them except for Kaiden had that same rank and the same last name, from what her helmet provided.

Before she could say anything, Paul said "At ease soldier. Yes, I am for the moment. Yes, we're all related. Yes, we're all the same rank. And yes, we're all on the same mission. I'm Paul, he's Kevin and he's Mike. Oh yes, and we have Kaiden Alenko back there. What happened here?"

Ashley shook her head. "My unit was patrolling the edges of the colony a few weeks ago when an excavation team dug up some old Prothean beacon. Next thing you know every scientist on the planet is interested and we get called in to secure it. Fast-forward to now where this dreadnought lands and releases an army on us."

"What were those things?" Kaiden asked.

"I think they're Geth."

"Impossible, the Geth haven't been seen beyond the Veil in 300 years."

"I don't know. They must be here for the beacon. They wiped my unit. We were heading to the dig site when we were ambushed by the Geth. We tried to get off a distress signal but it got cut off. I'm the only one who made it out alive." Ashley replied, the anger in her voice apparent.

Paul felt empathy, which he shouldn't. This was just a game. Yeah, her situation sucked, but he shouldn't feel anything like this. His character was the sole-survivor here, not him. Yet Paul felt he could relate. That was why he cut off the smart comment Kevin was about to make when he told her "They're machines. A machine doesn't need to eat or breathe, so you can't say that it was your fault."

"They have flashlight heads commander. I won't let it happen again." Ashley responded, though she seemed to appreciate the attempted counseling.

"You are definitely the worst soldier I've seen besides Jenkins. They're metal against rock, how do you miss that?!" Kevin asked, truly not caring about the question but simply about how she would react to it.

"There was nothing I could do you bastard!" Ashley shouted angrily, though somewhat guiltily, and straightened up immediately afterward. "Sir."

Realizing they should get on with the mission, Paul cut in and asked "Ashley, can you lead us to the beacon? That's what we're here for."

"Yeah, it's just at the end of this stretch." She replied, though a hint of malice was still present in her voice.

"Good. Let's move out. Same formation as before. Ashley take point with Mike." Paul ordered and they resumed their mission, though not before Ashley muttered "It's time for some payback."

They moved along the stretch until they reached a choke point at the entrance of the dig site. Here were even more Geth, three to be exact, patrolling the area and no ancient alien technology in sight. Ashley was the first to open fire, unloading her assault rifle and catching one of the Geth by complete surprise. It was mowed down quickly and the other two immediately dove for cover. The squad followed this example and took cover as well, laying down suppressing fire on the enemy in the process. It proceeded like this for a few seconds: one side would open fire, forcing the other side to take cover, before they switched roles and repeated the process. This was broken when Paul lobbed a grenade at one of the Geth and it bounced off of its head a moment before exploding, effectively ending that one. A quick rush forward from Mike and a body riddled to pieces later and the other synthetic was eliminated as well.

Once they had secured the area they gathered around where the beacon had once been.

"That's strange, the beacon was right here. It must have been moved." Ashley told them.

"Well that's obvious." Kevin commented, and received a look from Ashley that could make a Krogan wet himself, though she didn't say anything.

"Moved by our side or the Geth?" Kaiden asked.

Ashley shrugged. "It's hard to say. Maybe we'll know more when we get to the research camp."

"Okay, let's go there." Paul said, although that's when he remembered. "Wait, Nihlus said he was going to meet us here."

"Nihlus?" Ashley asked.

"A Turian Spectre that landed with us. He said that-" Paul began, but was cut off by a new transmission.

"Change of plans Paul. There's a small spaceport ahead. I'll meet your squad there."

After a slight pause, Paul said to Kevin "Yeah, Kevin, I think I'll retract my bid in the bet we made earlier."

"Wuss."

"Hey, at least I won't be short 100 creds."

Ashley looked at them confused, and both Kaiden and Mike just rolled their eyes. They formed up and headed up the 'ramp', which was just another hill, and came to the research camp.

It was in ruins. Shards of metal, bodies of civilians and soldiers strewn all over, and the presence of more of those impaling machines pervaded the scene. They moved forward through the camp and were securing the area when Kaiden suddenly shouted "Dear God! What did they do to them?!"

Paul turned to look at where Kaiden's voice was directed, at the machines. There were bodies impaled on it; that part he had gotten down and had disregarded for the sake of the mission. However, there was something else that had occurred. The bodies had been transformed, from what had been flesh and blood to what appeared to be cybernetic husks. The machines lowered their spikes and the three husks un-impaled themselves, generating what appeared to be an electrical field in the process, and proceeded to practically throw themselves at the squad. When a husk was sent flying backwards about 15 feet when it got too close to Kaiden that was when Paul wondered, 'How do I do that?'

The world froze. Everything, including Mike and Kevin, had stop in its tracks. One of the husks had come relatively too close to him for comfort. Paul looked around a moment, confused until he heard the computer in his helmet.

TUTORIAL ACTIVATED

YOU ARE A BIOTIC, A BEING CAPABLE OF THE MANIPULATION OF TIME OF SPACE VIA DARK MATTER GIVEN THE PROPER MENTAL CONDITIONING AND THE SENSORS IMPLANTED ACROSS THE TRILLIONS OF NERVE CELLS WITHIN YOUR BODY. THIS INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO LIFTING OBJECTS, THROWING THEM, AND CAUSING TEMPORARY SINGULARITIES (MINIATURE BLACK HOLES). IN AN INSTANTANEOUS MOMENT YOU CAN THROW THIS HUSK BACK A DOZEN FEET. WITH CONCENTRATION AND THE BUILD-UP OF DARK ENERGY, IT WILL GO MUCH FARTHER. AS YOU USE YOUR BIOTIC ABILITIES MORE OFTEN, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO UTILIZE GREATER AMOUNTS OF DARK ENERGY AT ONE TIME AND BECOME A MORE POWERFUL BIOTIC OVERALL. TO USE THE THROW ABILITY FIRST RAISE A CLENCHED FIST AND FOCUS OF YOUR TARGET. ALLOW THE DARK ENERGY TO BUILD UP FOR A FEW MOMENTS BEFORE RELEASING IT AT THE TARGET.

Paul held up his fist and focused on the husk, feeling somewhat awkward and slightly stupid looking. However, he did notice something. Ripples of dark matter flowed around his fist and he could 'feel' the energy building up. Once he felt it was enough, he shot out his fist towards the husk and it was sent flying a good forty feet. The world returned to a real-time state as it smashed into another husk that was about to attack Kevin and went over the ridge. They hit the bottom with a sickening crack and stopped moving.

Kevin shouted "Holy Sh*t!" as the husk was suddenly knocked away by another. He glanced at Paul, who still had ripples of dark energy around him, and blew the head off of the last husk with his sniper rifle. And chainsawed someone, preferably Ashley, in half. While blindfolded. Or at least that's how Kevin would have liked to have done it, to appear more badass than Paul, but wasn't sure what else his class could do besides make him good at tech stuff and snipers, so he just killed the last husk with his shot from his sniper rifle.

With the husks dealt with and no apparent signs of life in the camp, they moved on. They went through a narrow pass and halted a moment when they heard a single gunshot in the distance, all others having silent. They waited a few moments before they started on again until they came to a steel bridge that led to the spaceport Nihlus mentioned. There were multiple Geth patrolling the area, along with more husks waiting for a reason to come down from their spikes. These were all taken into account by the squad but they were not the main focus at the moment. No, the main focus of the moment was the massive squid-shaped dreadnought rising in the distance.

"That thing is massive!" Ashley said in both awe and what might be interpreted as fear. Not that anyone could blame her: that thing could wipe them out without a blink of an eye.

"Bow chicka bow wow!" Kevin suggested, only receiving a punch to the faceplate from Ashley as she just lost it. There was a brief scuffle where both of them tried to strangle each other while Kaiden, Mike, and Paul had to hold off the now-alerted Geth. A bunch of dead synthetics, husks, and two beaten-up soldiers later the squad standing over the dead body of the Turian Spectre, Nihlus in the spaceport.

"Good thing you pulled out of that bet." Mike commented to Paul and Kevin just muttered something about him being a wuss. Ashley still looked confused and was shooting Kevin dirty looks, while Kaiden bent down to close Nihlus's eyes.

Paul was about to order them deeper into the space port when he spotted movement behind a set of loading crates. He trained his weapon on it as did everyone else, only to see a scared dockworker walk out from behind the cover. He saw their guns and held his palms up, frantically saying "Don't shoot! I'm not armed."

"God man, don't sneak up on people like that." Mike said as they lowered their rifles.

"I'm sorry, everything is just so wrong." The man lowered his head, his mind elsewhere.

"Who are you?" Paul inquired. They needed to get to the beacon, now without Nihlus.

"My name is Cole; I work here at the docks. When the attack came I hid behind the crates. The others weren't so lucky." He answered guiltily.

Picking up on this, Paul asked "No one else hid with you?"

"I- uh, was kinda already behind the crates."

"You knew the attack was coming?" Kaiden asked alarmed.

"What- No, no, nothing like that." Cole quickly replied. "Sometimes I need some sleep to get through my shift. I sneak behind the crates to get forty winks where the supervisor can't find me."

"You survived because you were lazy!?" Ashley accused him in disgust, though Kevin didn't help things when he said "That's better than you."

Five minutes later after having broken up a fight between the two they were back to questioning the worker, who looked even more traumatized now.

"Um, maybe I should just leave and let you handle those things."

"No, you stay." Paul ordered sternly. "Do you know who killed this turian?"

"Yeah, I saw what happened. There was another turian already waiting here when your friend came. It looked like he knew him. He let his guard down, and the other guy just shot him in the back. His name was, uh, Saren! That's it! Your friend called him Saren." Cole remembered.

"Do you know where the beacon is?"

"We moved it this morning to the other side of the port. That's where Saren was heading."

"Move out. We need to get there quickly." Paul ordered and they began to move.

Cole added "Take the loading tram. That should take you there. As for me, I need to get out of here."

Paul nodded in thanks as the man left and then rejoined the squad as they moved towards the loading tram. They fought through multiple Geth squads along the way, now getting into a rhythm at that point. By the time they reached the tram a trail of bodies had formed behind them. They activated the tram and took it to the other side of the port where the beacon was.

As soon as their tram came to a stop they came under enemy fire. Their combined retaliation was enough to put a stop to the threat there was one other slight problem.

"They've set charges around this area. It looks like they're going to try to destroy the port." Kaiden informed them as he knelt down to disarm the first bomb. "I'm guessing with these kinds of charges that they've set up at least three more."

"Where are they?" Paul asked.

"From what it looks like they're set up along the walkway towards the beacon."

"How much time do we have left?"

"Four minutes and counting down."

"SH*T!" Kevin suddenly shouted and dashed up the walkways towards the second bomb with everybody behind him and leaving Kaiden behind to fend for himself. Even as they came under fire from more Geth they still charged forward, allowing their shields and armor to take the hits. They overwhelmed the second bomb site and were going to leave Ashley there to disarm it when Kevin objected.

"Oh hell no! There's no way I'm letting her mess with anything explosive." Kevin stated and pushed her aside, proceeding to attempt to disarm it himself as the others went on to overwhelm the third bomb site.

There was just a slight problem; Kevin had no idea how to disarm a bomb, much less under pressure.

JUST FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON THE HUD YOU DUMBASS.

Kevin looked around for a moment confused and slightly scared sh*tless when he realized it was just the computer speaking in his helmet. He didn't have time to come up with a proper response when a series of instructions scroll across his HUD and he began to follow them, quickly disarming the bomb after a few seconds. Kaiden had caught up and was passing him when Kevin left to go help out the others. Mike was disarming the third bomb, apparently going through the same problem and solution Kevin had dealt with, and Paul and Ashley were finishing off the last Geth trooper guarding the fourth bomb.

The third bomb was disabled and Paul was disarming the fourth bomb. The others were hanging over his shoulder and there was less than one minute left on the clock.

"Cut the blue wire!"

"No, it's the red wire! Wait, there are no wires!"

"You're going to slow!"

"We're all going die!"

They were all holding their breath when Paul hit the last keys and stopped the bomb clock at 00:01. Sighs of relief followed and some of them left out small laughs, the moment only interrupted by the sighting of the beacon and even more Geth guarding.

It didn't take long to dispatch the remaining Geth and husks that joined them and before they knew it they were standing before the beacon, which was shimmering with an eerie green glow that reflected off of its tan-colored surface. There was a beam of life emitting from the top of it straight into the sky and Ashley looked at it strangely as if something was wrong. Mike and Kevin was standing nearby talking about how much fun the mission had been so far, Paul was calling in the Normandy to arrange a pickup, and Kaiden was keeping an eye out for any other Geth in the general area.

"That's strange. It wasn't doing that before." Ashley commented as she approached the beacon closely, before suddenly it started to flash rapidly. It began to pull her in and she tried to pull away to no avail. Paul caught sight of this and ran towards her. He made a final leap, grabbed her, and threw her out of the beacon's pull. Mike and Kevin saw this and tried the same approach as Paul, running towards him only to be caught and pulled in by the same effect.

Ashley was about to stupidly try this as well but Kaiden stopped her. "Don't touch them!"

That was when Paul, Mike, and Kevin were lifted up into the air and the images began to come. It was blinding and all at once, a thousand pictures, sounds, messages of death and destruction being seared into their minds. Keivn would have flipped Kaiden off for not trying to help them but he was too busy being mentally tortured by the beacon. Finally after a few seconds the beacon overloaded, exploding and sending them flying in all directions.

Mike and Paul were out instantly and Kaiden rushed to tend to them, although Kevin was still conscious. His eyes barely fluttered open when he saw Ashley's boot connect with his face.

_Bitch_, was his last thought before the world faded to black.


End file.
